Boat decontamination systems, and methods of use

ABSTRACT

Decontamination systems, and methods of their use, for decontaminating boats of noxious marine life when the boat is pulled out of the water. The system is generally located at a boat launch site. Decontaminating water sprayed on the boat falls onto the ground, and runs along the surface back into the body of water. The system includes a water pump, a water intake line which extends, from the pump inlet port into the body of water. An outlet line extends from the pump outlet port to a spray nozzle. The spray nozzle sprays pressurized water onto the outside of the boat. The impact of the water removes unwanted marine life from the boat. After decontamination, the boat can be taken to a different body of water with little, if any, risk of infecting the different body of water with marine life from the first body of water.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to a decontamination system for decontaminating pleasure boats at remote boat landings. The boat decontamination system is employed largely as a method directed toward preventing, or at least inhibiting, the spread of noxious marine animals and vegetation from one body of water to another. By decontaminating every boat before the leaves the launch site for overland travel, the boat carries no noxious marine life, or a very reduced quantity, of noxious marine life, to the next body of water into which it is launched.

Certain water plants have been identified as undesirable invasive and/or noxious species in certain bodies of water. For example, certain plant species, newly-introduced to a body of water, can choke out native plants, which upsets the native ecosystem, and/or creates difficulties for human users of the body of water.

Algae are known to accumulate on the outside surface of a boat. Larvae of certain species of animal life, especially certain species of fresh-water crustaceans, accumulate on the outside surface of the boat to feed on the algae. As the larvae grow into maturity, their sizes grow substantially such that the crustaceans can form a continuous layer of the boat. More importantly for the invention, those same crustaceans, generally in the larva stage, readily cling to the outside surface of the boat when the boat is transported overland from a first body of water to a second body of water. When the boat is launched and used in the second body of water, some of those larvae can fall off the boat into the water, whereby a new species of animal life can become invested in that body of water. As with the above-mentioned invasive plant species, such newly-arrived animal species can be invasive and/or noxious in consideration of the native animal species which are already present in that body of water.

Species generally do not travel overland from one body of water to another by themselves. In some instances, such species require residing in a water body for continued life. In other instances, such species have no means of travel over dry land. However, experience has taught that the outside surfaces of the boats leaving a body of water provide ready transport for both plant and animal species from one body of water to another body of water.

It is known in the art, that when a boat has been in a body of water for a considerable period of time, it needs to be cleaned in order that the accumulated detritus on the outside surface of the boat not serve as an efficiency drag, requiring additional fuel inputs in moving the boat through the water. Thus, various methods are known for cleaning boats while the boats remain in the water, in anticipation of continued use shortly after the cleaning project has been completed.

It is also known to clean the outside surface of the boat when the boat has been pulled out of the water and placed in dry-dock, such as for routine maintenance to scrub the bottom of a boat prior to putting the boat back into the water at the same launch site.

The above-recited cleaning methods are known and used in maintaining the utility of the boat, and are generally not known or used unless the accumulated detritus is such as to affect the functional performance of the boat, for example when the growths of mussels and or snails, tube worms, and the like have significantly altered the generally smooth outer surface of the boat. Typically, such boats are relatively larger boats which remain in the body of water for an indefinite period of time, or at least for the season when the body of water is more or less navigable and free from ice which prevents navigation. Such boats tend to be boats used in transporting goods or people for pay, or are e.g. yachts which are too large for convenient transport overland. Such boats are not commonly transported from a first body of water to a second body of water.

By contrast, the invention is directed toward e.g. pleasure boats which are readily housed and/or stored away from a body of water, such at an owner's home, and which are readily transported from a first body of water to a second body of water, namely boats which are readily transported on conventional roadways. Such boats tend to be relatively smaller, and are commonly limited to no more than about 36 feet to about 40 feet in length. These are the boats which are commonly used on inland lakes and rivers. The more common lengths of such boats are about 12 feet to about 30 feet in nominal length. Such boats represent opportunity for people who live away from a body of water to bring their boat to the body of water, launch the boat at e.g. a publicly-available launch site, and take the boat with them when they leave the body of water. Typically, the boat is in the water only a few hours. At e.g. a campground, the boat may be in the water several days. And typically, when the boat owner leaves the body of water at the end of the camping vacation, he takes the boat with him.

The owners of such readily-transportable boats commonly visit several bodies of water during a years boating season, transporting the boat overland, by roadways, from a given body of water to the next body of water. Commonly, the boat is taken from the first body of water to the owner's home, and at a later date, taken to the subsequent body of water. And even though the outside surface of the boat dries out in the meantime, some species of marine life can survive e.g. in a dormant state, until the boat is again placed in the water at the subsequent body of water.

It is when the boat is again put into a body of water that the risk of spreading noxious marine life becomes an issue being addressed by the invention.

It would be desirable to prevent the issue of overland transport of noxious marine life from arising.

It would be further desirable to remove noxious marine life from the boat after the boat has been pulled out of the water and before the boat leaves the launch site.

It would yet further be desirable to provide a decontamination system adjacent the launch site, for all boaters to use in decontaminating their boats before leaving the launch site overland.

It would be desirable that such decontamination system be independent of the national grid system such that the system can be installed even at more remote launch sites where no electricity is available from the national grid.

It is highly desirable that such decontamination system use water from the corresponding body of water as a decontaminating liquid.

It is also desirable that the decontamination system enable spraying the water onto the outside surface of the boat at pressures which are effective to remove the noxious marine life from the outside surface of the boat, without deleterious affect on the finish on the outside surface of the boat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other improvements are achieved in decontamination systems of the invention, and methods of their use. A decontamination system of the invention is generally located in the area of the launch site, close enough to the water that water sprayed on the boat can fall onto the ground, and such surface water can run back into the body of water from which the boat was just removed.

The decontamination system includes a water pump which has an inlet port and an outlet port. The pump develops a pressure value at the outlet port. A water intake line extends, from the inlet port of the pump, into the body of water. An outlet line extends from the outlet port of the pump to a spray nozzle. The spray nozzle is used to spray the pressurized water onto the outside surface of the boat. When the spray is properly applied to the outside surface of the boat, the impact of the water on the boat removes unwanted marine life from the outside surface of the boat. After the boat has been so decontaminated, the boat can be taken to a subsequent and different body of water, with optional intervening dry storage of the boat, with little, if any, risk of infecting the subsequent or different body of water with marine life from the first body of water.

Typical boats being addressed in the invention are pleasure boats, which are commonly used for sport fishing, pleasure riding, and/or water skiing. This decontamination invention is not addressing boats which are commonly used in only a single body of water, because there is no risk of the boat contaminating a second body of water if the boat is never placed in a second body of water.

In a first family of embodiments, the invention comprehends a boat decontamination system, comprising a pump having an inlet port and an outlet port, and water delivery at a rate of about 1.2 gallons per minute to about 3 gallons per minute, at delivery pressures of about 65 psig to about 150 psig; a high pressure water conduit having a proximate portion and a remote portion, the proximate portion of the high pressure water conduit being connected to the outlet port of the pump; a delivery wand connected to the remote portion of the high pressure line; a power supply providing an effective amount of suitable electric power to drive the pump within such ranges of delivery rate and delivery pressure; a low pressure water inlet conduit having a proximate portion and a remote portion, the proximate portion of the water inlet conduit being connected to the inlet port of the pump; and an inlet filter connected to the remote portion of the low pressure water inlet conduit.

In some embodiments, the water inlet conduit is sufficiently flexible to accommodate repeated coiling and uncoiling of the water intake line in accord with seasonal installation and removal of the boat decontamination system at a boat launch site.

In some embodiments, the invention further comprises an anchor effective to hold the inlet filter in a generally laterally fixed location in a body of water which is used for boating.

In some embodiments, the power supply is an off-grid power supply, optionally selected from the group consisting of a solar power supply, a wind power supply, and a hydro power supply, optionally a rechargeable battery as a primary power supply, optionally in combination with a recharging power supply selected from the group consisting of a solar power supply, a wind power supply, and a hydro power supply. The power line between the primary power supply and the recharging power supply optionally contains an electrically blocking device such as a one-way diode.

In some embodiments, the invention further comprises a housing receiving and enclosing the pump and a battery.

In some embodiments, the invention further comprises a pressure switch which turns the pump on and off in accord with water pressure in the high pressure water conduit.

In some embodiments, the pump has a water delivery rate of about 80 psig to about 120 psig, optionally about 90 psig to about 100 psig, at flow rates of about 1.5 gallons per minute to about 2.2 gallons per minute, optionally about 1.8 gallons per minute.

In some embodiments, the boat decontamination system is a portable boat decontamination system, susceptible of being readily installed at a boat launch site, and being subsequently removed, on a seasonal basis, using only casual manual labor.

In a second family of embodiments, the invention comprehends a method of decontaminating boats. The method, comprises installing, at a boat launch site, in connection with a corresponding body of water which is used for boating, a boat decontamination system comprising: (i) a pump having an inlet port and an outlet port, (ii) a high pressure water conduit having a proximate portion and a remote portion, the proximate portion of the high pressure water conduit being connected to the outlet port of the pump, (iii) a delivery wand connected to the remote portion of the high pressure line, (iv) a power supply providing an effective amount of suitable electric power to drive the pump, (v) a low pressure water inlet conduit having a proximate portion and a remote portion, the proximate portion of the water inlet conduit being connected to the inlet port of the pump, and (vi) an inlet filter connected to the remote portion of the low pressure water inlet conduit, the installing of the boat decontamination system including placing the remote portion of the low pressure water inlet conduit in the body of water so as to enable the pump to draw inlet water from the body of water which is used for boating; pulling a boat out of the body of water which is used for boating and temporarily parking the boat proximate the boat decontamination system, and directing a flow of water from the delivery wand onto an outside surface of the boat, which surface had been in contact with the body of water, at such a distance of the wand from the boat to effectively remove an effective portion of noxious marine plant life and marine animal life from the outside surface of the boat and thereby to decontaminate the boat, without damaging the outside surface of the boat, the decontaminating of the boat comprising so decontaminating substantially the entirety of that portion of the outside surface of the boat which had been in routine contact with the body of water.

In some embodiments, the parking of the boat proximate the boat decontamination system comprises parking the boat on an incline such that wash water running off the boat flows by gravity back into the body of water.

In some embodiments the flow of water from the wand is operating at a pressure of about 65 psig to about 150 psig, optionally about 90 psig to about 100 psig, and at a flow rate of about 1.2 gallons per minute to about 3 gallons per minute optionally about 1.5 gallons per minute to about 2.2 gallons per minute, optionally about 1.8 gallons per minute.

In some embodiments, the invention further comprises placing an anchor device in the body of water, and attaching at least one of the inlet filter and the anchor device to each other or the inlet conduit and the anchor device to each other.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises tethering a float to at least one of the inlet filter and the inlet conduit such that the float floats on the surface of the body of water and serves as a general lateral indicator of the location of the respective filter or inlet conduit.

In some embodiments, the power supply comprises a rechargeable battery, optionally a rechargeable battery, as a primary power supply, and a recharging power supply, the recharging power supply being connected to the battery by a power line.

In some embodiments, the method comprises installing the boat decontamination system in a remote location where grid power is not available, and wherein the power supply comprises a rechargeable battery, as a primary power supply, and a recharging power supply selected from the group consisting of a solar power supply, a wind power supply, and a hydro power supply, the recharging power supply being connected to the battery by a power line.

In some embodiments, the boating decontamination system further comprises a housing receiving and enclosing the pump and the battery.

In some embodiments, the boat decontamination system further comprises an electrical blocking device between the battery and the recharging power supply.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises installing the boat decontamination system at a boat launch site at the beginning of the boating season, and subsequently removing the boat decontamination system from the launch site at the end of the boating season using only casual manual labor.

In a third family of embodiments, the invention comprehends a method of decontaminating a boat which is repeatedly carried overland on a trailer between at least first and second different bodies of water during a boating season which can last up to e.g. a year. The method comprises putting the boat in a first body of water; subsequent to putting the boar in the first body of water, putting the boat on the trailer, thus making a boat/trailer combination, and pulling the boat/trailer combination out of the first body of water after the boat has been in the first body of water for a period of no more than three months; temporarily parking the boat/trailer combination proximate the body of water; drawing water from the first body of water through an inlet conduit, and pumping such water through a pump, and directing a flow of such water, as a decontaminating spray, from a nozzle, onto an outside surface of the boat, which outside surface had been in contact with the first body of water, at such impact pressure and flow rate of the spray, as impacts the outside surface of the boat, to effectively remove an effective portion of noxious marine plant life and/or noxious marine animal life from the outside surface of the boat, without damaging the outside surface of the boat, the decontaminating of the boat comprising so decontaminating substantially all of that portion of the outside surface of the boat which had been in routine contact with the first body of water.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises driving the pump using an off-grid power supply, such as a rechargeable battery, optionally recharging the battery from a recharging power supply such as a solar power supply, a wind power supply, of a hydro power supply.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises providing an electrical blocking device between the battery and the recharging power supply.

In some embodiments, the method comprises pulling the boat out of the first body of water, and decontaminating the boat, after the boat has been in the first body of water for a period of no longer than 1 month, optionally no longer than 1 week, optionally no longer than 2 days.

In a fourth family of embodiments, the invention comprehends a method of impeding spread of noxious marine plant life and/or noxious marine animal life from a first body of water to other bodies of water. The method comprises installing, in a decontamination area of a boat launch site, in connection with a corresponding body of water which is used for boating, a boat decontamination system, the boat decontamination system being adapted and configured to draw water, to be used as decontamination water, from the body of water through an inlet conduit, to pump such water through a pump, and to direct a flow of such water onto an outside surface of the boat to be decontaminated, which outside surface of such boat had been in contact with the body of water, at such impact pressure and flow rate, as impacts the outside surface of a boat, to effectively remove noxious marine plant life and noxious marine animal life from the outside surface of the boat, without damaging the outside surface of the boat, and requiring that each boat, pulled from the respective body of water at the respective boat launch site, be subjected to a decontamination process in the decontamination area, using the boat decontamination system, before leaving the boat launch site. The decontamination process comprises drawing water, to be used as decontamination water, from the body of water through an inlet conduit, and pumping such water through a pump and directing a flow of such water onto an outside surface of the boat, which outside surface had been in contact with the body of water, at such impact pressure and flow rate as impacts the outside surface of the boat, to effectively remove noxious marine plant life and noxious marine animal life from the outside surface of the boat. The decontamination process further comprises so decontaminating substantially the entirety of that portion of the outside surface of the boat which had been in routine contact with the body of water.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an overall representative side elevation view of a boat to be decontaminated, and a decontamination system of the invention, installed at a boat launch site.

FIG. 2 shows a representation of the decontamination system, including specific ones of the elements of the decontamination system.

The invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction or the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in other various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the terminology and phraseology employed herein is for purpose of description and illustration and should not be regarded as limiting. Like reference numerals are used to indicate like components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an overall side elevation view of a boat 10 at a launch/landing site along the shore line of a body of water 12 ready to be decontaminated by a system of the invention. The boat is resting on a trailer 14. As illustrated, a boat ramp 16 extends down into the water behind the boat. The boat decontamination system of the invention is generally illustrated at 18. System 18, as illustrated in FIG. 1, includes a pump housing 20 containing pressure decontamination apparatus. An eco-friendly electric power supply 22 is mounted on pump housing 20 and is connected by suitable electrical wiring. Eco-friendly power supply 22 can be mounted remotely, as desired, and connected to pressure decontamination apparatus by a longer power supply cord.

As illustrated, a support post 24 is driven into the lake bed, and supports a filter housing 26 which defines an interior receiving cavity which receives filtered water entering the inlet line. Water flows through a suitable filter medium which surrounds filter housing 26, and thus into the cavity, while excluding particles which are detrimental to the operation of the decontamination system. A water intake conduit 28 extends from filter housing 26 to pump housing 20 and serves as a water supply source for the boat decontaminating system of the invention. A float 30 is tethered to filter housing 26 to indicate its location, both for servicing cavity 26 and to facilitate boaters avoiding hitting cavity 26 or its post 24.

FIG. 2 shows pump housing 20 generally in dashed outline. Inside pump housing 20 is a positive displacement, self-priming 12-volt DC pump 32, and a rechargeable corresponding battery 34 capable of serving as an e.g. 12-volt power supply to pump 32. Pump 32 is connected to battery 34 by a suitable power cord 36.

In FIG. 2, eco-friendly power supply 32 is shown outside pump housing 20 so as to provide the power supply by means of exposure to environmentally friendly power sources, such as wind power or solar power. In locations where water movement is dependable, power supply 32 can be mounted in the water so as to produce hydroelectric energy from such water movement, such as wave action, or the current of a river.

Power supply 32 is, in any event, designed to capture energy from at least one specific energy source. Thus, if wind energy is to be used, a wind turbine is provided, along with a generator. If water movement is to be used, a water turbine is provided, along with a generator. Where solar energy is to be used, one or more photovoltaic solar panels are provided.

Whatever the energy source, the energy generated by power supply 22 is transferred to battery 34 through power cord 38, which may be any desired length, so long as the length is not so long as to extinguish an unacceptable amount of the electricity along the transmission path of the power cord.

One or more suitable blocking devices 40, such as a blocking diode, are provided in power cord 38 to prevent back-flow of electrical current to power supply 22 when the power supply is not generating electricity.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, water intake line 28 extends through an opening in pump housing 20, and connects to an intake fitting 42 on pump 32. A pressure delivery line 44 connects to the pressurized outlet port 46 of pump 32. A pressure switch 48 is mounted on the water flow stream on the outlet side of the pump.

Pressure delivery line 44 extends from outlet port 46 to pistol-grip wand 50. Wand 50 includes a pistol-grip control 52. The default setting of control 52 has water flow shut off. When trigger 54 is squeezed, flow of water is enabled through delivery rod 56, and to spray nozzle 58, thus to provide a pressurized spray of water 60 from the nozzle. The length of the water intake line 28 depends on the distance between filter housing 26 and the pump inlet port 42 inside pump housing 20. The length of the water delivery line 44 depends on the distance between pump outlet port 46 and the boat which is to be decontaminated. Typically, delivery line 44 is provided with adequate length that the user can temporarily park the boat anywhere along one side of the launch site and readily reach the boat with the delivery line.

Pump 32 is specified to deliver

-   -   (i) a water flow rate sufficient to provide the amount of water         flow needed to effect the desired decontamination,     -   (ii) water pressure great enough to dislodge, from the surface         of the boat, such detritus as water vegetation, as well as         aquatic animal larvae such as mussels, crayfish, and the like,     -   (iii) water pressure not so great as to harm the surface of the         boat, or be dangerous to a person who may be inadvertently         impacted by the water being expressed from nozzle 58, and     -   (iv) water pressure and flow rate which can be sustained by         battery 34 for generally continuous use between recharging         opportunities available to power supply 22.

A suitable range of water pressures and flow rates for a contemplated e.g. 1000 cold cranking amp battery is about 65 pounds per square inch gauge (psig) to about 150 psig pressure, optionally about 80 psig to about 120 psig, further optionally 90 psig to about 100 psig; and flow rates of about 1.2 gallons per minute (gpm) to about 3 gpm, optionally flow rates of about 1.8 gpm. The operating pressures herein are well above typical water pressure in a typical household/city water system, as such household water systems are typically limited to about 40 psig, to less than 50 psig.

In light of the above discharge pressures and flow rates, and recognizing that the nozzle is a hand held device, in the hands and control of a generally untrained user, a highly effective distance for positioning the nozzle in use, is where the distance between the nozzle and the boat surface is nominally about 6 inches to about 15 inches. Such distance does, of course, vary as the user swings the nozzle back and forth, covering the boat outside surface with one or more passes of the spray onto the outside surface of the boat.

The invention can be practiced using any of a number of pumps currently available on the market. An exemplary such pump which has been found to be suitable for general-purpose use is a FLOJET® Model 2130 self-priming, Industrial Series pump, having an outlet pressure of 95 psig, and flow rate of about 1.8 gallons per minute, available from ITT Industries, Foothill Ranch, Calif.

The invention can be practiced using any of a number of power sources. Where a battery is used, a deep-cycle lead acid battery has been found particularly effective. An exemplary such battery is the ODESSY™ series of batteries, such as the ODESSY™ PC2250 battery, having 2250 Pulse Hot Cranking Amps (5 sec), which is available from Enersys Energy Products Inc., Warrensburg, Mo.

Such lead acid battery can be kept properly charged as for daily use, assuming reasonable availability of sunlight, by a 15 watt low light solar panel. Such solar panel is available as the PRO-KIT 15W, from ICP Global Technologies, Quebec, Canada.

Using the above combination of battery and solar panel, a completely depleted battery can be fully recharged with about 14 hours of direct and bright sunlight.

Where sunlight is insufficiently frequently received to keep the battery sufficiently charged on a regular basis to meet the anticipated frequency of use, the battery size can be increased to provide more capacity. In some instances, increasing the size/output rate of the solar panel may be necessary as the battery capacity is increased.

In some instances, increasing the size/charge rate of the solar panel can provide the needed output capacity, without increasing the size of the battery.

The preferred low voltage system, for example and without limitation a 12 volt system, is quite safe for the public to use, whereby there is no risk of electrical harm by the public inadvertently coming into contact with an exposed electric wire. By contrast, with 120-volt grid power, there is always at least some risk of injury were a user to come into contact with an exposed electric wire.

Intake conduit 28 can be any low-pressure conduit which can carry the needed quantity of water from filter housing 26 in the e.g. lake or river. For example, a length of ordinary garden hose is satisfactory as intake conduit 28.

The filter around filter housing 26 can be any material which can readily pass the water from the body of water into an interiorly-defined cavity inside filter housing 26, while filtering out material, which is suspended in the water, which could clog intake conduit 28, or harm pump 32, or plug spray nozzle 58. A wide variety of filter materials, both woven materials and non-woven materials, which can be used as such filter media. The filter media and the body of filter housing 26 can be separate elements. In the alternative, filter housing 26 can, itself, embody a suitable filter media, integral with the material of the filter housing, whereupon the recited filter cavity includes a housing, filter media mounted on or in the housing or integral with the housing, and a cavity inside the respective housing/media combination.

Outlet pressure line 44 is that structure which extends from the outlet port of the pump to the spray-expressing tip at the end of wand. Thus, pressure line 44 is defined herein to include a pressure conduit 45, and wand 50.

Outlet pressure switch 48 can be built into the pump, or can be between the outlet port and the pressure line 44, or can be built into pressure conduit 45. In any event the pressure switch is between the outlet side of the pump and the inlet side of wand 50.

Pressure conduit 45 can be any conventional e.g. 0.25 inch diameter high-pressure hose which is designed to carry the output pressure of the pump, at the rated pump flow rates.

Wand 50 can be selected from among a variety of available conventional wands which are capable of handling the anticipated pressures.

The above suggested materials selections can be used in designing a decontamination for general-purposes use in decontaminating the classes of recreational boats which are in the highest volume usages. For uses which are applied to more narrowly-defined classes of boats, the equipment specifications can be adapted accordingly. Also for use areas/geographies which have more or less sun exposure than needed for the above-noted systems, greater or lesser energy collection and/or energy storage capacities can be selected for the system.

Where the energy collection system is non-solar, yet off-grid, such as a wind or hydro energy collection system, the energy storage battery can be adjusted accordingly to balance the collection capabilities of the selected energy collection system.

Pump 32 and battery 34 are contained inside pump housing 20 in order to protect at least those portions of the system from theft and/or vandalism or weather damage. A suitable lock is used to maintain pump housing 20 in closed condition thus to discourage such vandalism or theft of parts.

The usual elements of a typical system of the invention thus include

-   -   (i) pump 42, battery 34, and diode 40 inside pump housing 20;     -   (ii) an off-grid re-charging power supply;     -   (iii) the intake line, including filter housing 26 suitable         filter media, stake 24, and float 30; and     -   (iv) the high pressure line, including conduit 45, wand 50, and         pressure switch 48.

Such decontamination system of the invention is installed as follows:

-   -   (a) With critical connections disconnected, pump housing 20,         including pump 32, battery 34, and diode 40, is set on the         ground in a desired location at the launch site, using casual         manual labor. By casual manual labor is meant the manual lifting         and carrying power of no more than 3 men, without the need to         use any lifting devices to support the weight from the ground.         Thus, no crane or other lifting device need be brought to the         launch site for seasonal installation and/or removal of the         system from the launch site for the winter.     -   (b) To set up the intake line, install stake 24 in the floor of         the body of water at a suitable distance from shore. Tether         filter housing 26 to stake 24. Tether float 30 to filter housing         26 or inlet conduit 28. Attach the proximal end of the inlet         conduit to the inlet port of pump 32.     -   (c) To set up the outlet line, attach pressure line 44 to the         outlet port of the pump.     -   (d) Given an electrical charge in the battery, to initiate         operation of the system, connect power line 36 from battery 34         to pump 42, and attach the opposing electrical terminal of the         pump to ground.     -   (e) For re-charging purposes, mount the solar panel 22 in a         desired location to receive solar energy from the sun. Connect         the solar panel electrically to the battery 34, through electric         cord 38, and maintain a blocking diode in the power line between         solar panel 22 and battery 34.

With the initial application of power to pump 32 and switch 48, and no pressure in pressure conduit 45, switch 48 is in the closed position, whereby electric power flows to the motor in pump 32, thus activating pump 32 and pumping enough water into the outlet line to bring the pressure in outlet line up to the operating pressure. As soon as the pressure in outlet conduit 45 reaches the pre-set limit switch pressure, the contacts of switch 48 open, shutting off pump 32. The system is now ready to use.

The system of the invention is used as follows. Water filter housing 26 is permanently located well below the water line in the body of water, typically 3-5 feet below the water line where there is limited risk of it being struck by a passing boat. Pump housing 20, with battery 34 and pump 32 inside, is located close to the shore line, with intake line 28 connecting cavity 26 to pump 32. Wand 50 is mounted beside pump housing 20, with plenty of pressure conduit 45 between pump housing 20 and wand 50. Power supply 22, e.g. a solar collector, is mounted at a suitable location out of solar shading to the extent practical, while still being close enough to provide energy collection capability to recharge battery 34. The default condition of switch 48 is that the switch powers on the pump any time the pressure at the outlet side of the pump falls below a pre-set limit pressure. Accordingly, with the system installed, and power available from battery 34, outlet conduit 45 is always in a pressurized condition.

When a boat is pulled out of the water at the launch site, the boat is pulled to the vicinity of pump housing 20 and parked temporarily for decontamination, preferably on a grade which slopes toward the water. The user picks up wand 50 and squeezes trigger 54 while holding the wand close to the surface of the boat and pointing nozzle 58 at the surface of the boat which was in routine contact with the water.

By routine contact with the water is meant that portion of the boat which is in regular contact with the water on a calm day, with the boat motionless in calm water. It does not include the more upwardly-disposed portions of the boat, even though these portions of the boat outside surface are frequently splashed with water in wave action and/or when the boat is underway.

As pressurized water is expelled from the nozzle, pressure switch 48 detects the drop in pressure and closes the circuit between pump 32 and battery 34, thus starting the pump. The pump continues to run as long as the pressure in the pump outlet line is below the triggering pressure set at switch 48. The set pressure is slightly above the system operating pressure. Thus, as long as the trigger is held open, pump 32 continues to run, and provides suitably-pressurized water at a suitable water flow rate. When the trigger is released, pressure quickly builds to above the set pressure whereupon switch 48 turns the pump off and is ready for the next use.

In using the spray provided by pump 32, the user positions the nozzle close enough to the surface of the boat to dislodge undesired detritus from the e.g. lake water, while moving the nozzle back and forth adjacent the boat surface, thereby to apply the decontaminating water to the desired, e.g. underwater, portion of the outer surface of the boat, and to accordingly dislodge all undesired detritus from the surface of the boat.

Since the purpose of spraying the boat at the launch site is to decontaminate the boat, not particularly to “clean” the boat, removal of surface films and the like, which is common in “cleaning” a boat, is not an issue, whereby no soap or other chemical is used in the water which is sprayed onto the boat. Since no chemical is used in the spray water, the used water can be recycled by allowing the used water to return to the lake or other body of water from which the water was drawn.

Since the boat is parked on an incline/grade which slopes downwardly toward the body of water, the water which is sprayed onto the boat, and which falls to the ground under the boat, i.e., any water which remains on the surface of the ground, flows by gravity back into the lake or other body of water. Since the water can be disposed of by gravity, there is no need to provide a receiving tank to recycle or re-use the spray water.

The result is a simple, yet effective, system for decontaminating all boats which are drawn out of the body of water at a given launch site. Since all of the detritus, which comes out of the water on boats at the launch site, is removed at the launch site, none of that removed detritus is carried by those boats, which are washed, to another body of water, whereby the transport link, which spreads such undesired species to previously-uncontaminated bodies of water, is effectively broken.

In speaking of removing “all” undesirable detritus, it is understood that certain small portions of such accumulations may not be removed. For example, the user may miss applying the pressurized spray to a portion of the boat surface. For example, some portion of that detritus which lies between a trailer roller or pad, and the bottom of the boat, cannot be reached by the spray. Nevertheless, when thoroughly applied to a boat outside surface, the system of the invention is effective to remove a very high fraction of such noxious marine life, whereby spread of such noxious marine life is substantially impeded.

Because power supply 22 provides power from the environment, the decontamination system can be located at remote launch sites which do not have grid power available. Even where grid power is available, the system need not tap into the grid and thereby further build on the conventional grid load, whereby eco-friendly power is optionally the entire power source for decontamination systems of the invention. Where a governmental agency oversees or supervises installation of multiple such decontamination systems spread over a given geography, the overall installation process can be simplified by specifying that all such systems provide their own power supply. Thus, even if an installation site has grid power available, the grid power is not connected to the system, and all of the multiple systems being supervised by the agency have a common specification which simplifies the maintenance of the collective number of systems, where every system is the same as every other system in the collective number of systems.

Decontamination systems of the invention can, of course, tap into the conventional power grid if desired, whereupon battery 34 and power supply 22 are not needed. In such instance, the decontamination system is fully defined by

-   -   (i) for example a 120 volt AC pump having the above-recited         pressure and flow rate capabilities, as well as pressure switch         48,     -   (ii) a power cord connecting the pump to the power grid,     -   (iii) outlet pressure line 44, including conduit 45 and wand 50,         and     -   (iv) intake line 28, and filter housing 26, in the body of         water.

Those skilled in the art will now see that certain modifications can be made to the apparatus and methods herein disclosed with respect to the illustrated embodiments, without departing from the spirit of the instant invention. And while the invention has been described above with respect to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is adapted to numerous rearrangements, modifications, and alterations, and all such arrangements, modifications, and alterations are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims.

To the extent the following claims use means plus function language, it is not meant to include there, or in the instant specification, anything not structurally equivalent to what is shown in the embodiments disclosed in the specification. 

1. A boat decontamination system, comprising: (a) a pump having an inlet port and an outlet port, and water delivery at a rate of about 1.2 gallons per minute to about 3 gallons per minute, at delivery pressures of about 65 psig to about 150 psig; (b) a high pressure water conduit having a proximate portion and a remote portion, the proximate portion of said high pressure water conduit being connected to the outlet port of said pump; (c) a delivery wand connected to the remote portion of said high pressure line; (d) a power supply providing an effective amount of suitable electric power to drive said pump within such ranges of delivery rate and delivery pressure; (e) a low pressure water inlet conduit having a proximate portion and a remote portion, the proximate portion of said water inlet conduit being connected to said inlet port of said pump; and (f) an inlet filter connected to the remote portion of said low pressure water inlet conduit.
 2. A boat decontamination system as in claim 1, said water inlet conduit being sufficiently flexible to accommodate repeated coiling and uncoiling of said water intake line in accord with seasonal installation and removal of said boat decontamination system at a boat launch site.
 3. A boat decontamination system as in claim 1, further comprising an anchor effective to hold said inlet filter in a generally laterally fixed location in a body of water which is used for boating.
 4. A boat decontamination system as in claim 1 wherein said power supply is an off-grid power supply.
 5. A boat decontamination system as in claim 4 wherein said power supply is selected from the group consisting of a solar power supply, a wind power supply, and a hydro power supply.
 6. A boat decontamination system as in claim 4 wherein said power supply comprises a rechargeable battery as a primary power supply, and a recharging power supply, the recharging power supply being connected to said battery by a power line.
 7. A boat decontamination system as in claim 4 wherein said power supply comprises a rechargeable batter as a primary power supply, in combination with a recharging power supply selected from the group consisting of a solar power supply, a wind power supply, and a hydro power supply, the recharging power supply being connected to said battery by a power line.
 8. A boat decontamination system as in claim 6, further comprising a housing receiving and enclosing said pump and said battery.
 9. A boat decontamination system as in claim 1, further comprising a pressure switch which turns said pump on and off in accord with water pressure in said high pressure water conduit.
 10. A boat decontamination system as in claim 1, said pump having a water delivery rate of about 80 psig to about 120 psig at flow rates of about 1.5 gallons per minute to about 2.2 gallons per minute.
 11. A boat decontamination system as in claim 1, said pump having a water delivery flow rate of about 1.8 gallons per minute, at about 90 psig to about 100 psig.
 12. A boat decontamination system as in claim 7, further comprising an electrical blocking device (40) between said battery and said recharging power supply.
 13. A boat decontamination system as in claim 1 wherein said boat decontamination system is a portable boat decontamination system, susceptible of being readily installed at a boat launch site, and being subsequently removed, on a seasonal basis, using only casual manual labor.
 14. A method of decontaminating boats, comprising: (a) installing, at a boat launch site, in connection with a corresponding body of water which is used for boating, a boat decontamination system comprising: (i) a pump having an inlet port and an outlet port, (ii) a high pressure water conduit having a proximate portion and a remote portion, the proximate portion of the high pressure water conduit being connected to the outlet port of the pump, (iii) a delivery wand connected to the remote portion of the high pressure line, (iv) a power supply providing an effective amount of suitable electric power to drive the pump, (v) a low pressure water inlet conduit having a proximate portion and a remote portion, the proximate portion of the water inlet conduit being connected to the inlet port of the pump, and (vi) an inlet filter connected to the remote portion of the low pressure water inlet conduit, the installing of the boat decontamination system including placing the remote portion of the low pressure water inlet conduit in the body of water so as to enable the pump to draw inlet water from the body of water which is used for boating; (b) pulling a boat out of the body of water which is used for boating and temporarily parking the boat proximate the boat decontamination system, and (c) directing a flow of water from the delivery wand onto an outside surface of the boat, which surface had been in contact with the body of water, at such a distance of the wand from the boat to effectively remove an effective portion of noxious marine plant life and marine animal life from the outside surface of the boat and thereby to decontaminate the boat, without damaging the outside surface of the boat, the decontaminating of the boat comprising so decontaminating substantially the entirety of that portion of the outside surface of the boat which had been in routine contact with the body of water.
 15. A method as in claim 14, the parking of the boat proximate the boat decontamination system comprising parking the boat on an incline such that wash water running off such boat flows by gravity back into the body of water.
 16. A method as in claim 14, the flow of water from the wand operating at a pressure of about 65 psig to about 150 psig, and a flow rate of about 1.2 gallons per minute to about 3 gallons per minute.
 17. A method as in claim 14, the flow of water from the wand operating at a pressure of about 90 psig to about 100 psig, and a flow rate of about 1.8 gallons per minute.
 18. A method as in claim 14, further comprising placing an anchor device in the body of water, and attaching at least one of the inlet filter and the anchor device to each other or the inlet conduit and the anchor device to each other.
 19. A method as in claim 14, further comprising tethering a float to at least one of the inlet filter or the inlet conduit such that the float floats on the surface of the body of water and serves as a general lateral indicator of the location of the respective filter or inlet conduit.
 20. A method as in claim 14 wherein the power supply comprises a rechargeable battery.
 21. A method as in claim 14 wherein the power supply comprises a rechargeable battery, as a primary power supply, and a recharging power supply, the recharging power supply being connected to the battery by a power line.
 22. A method as in claim 14, the method comprising installing the boat decontamination system in a remote location where grid power is not available, and wherein the power supply comprises a rechargeable battery, as a primary power supply, and a recharging power supply selected from the group consisting of a solar power supply, a wind power supply, and a hydro power supply, the recharging power supply being connected to the battery by a power line.
 23. A method as in claim 27, the boating decontamination system further comprising a housing receiving and enclosing the pump and the battery.
 24. A method as in claim 21, the boat decontamination system further comprising an electrical blocking device between the battery and the recharging power supply.
 25. A method as in claim 14 further comprising installing the boat decontamination system at a boat launch site at the beginning of a boating season, and subsequently removing the boat decontamination system from the launch site at the end of the boating season, using only casual manual labor.
 26. A method of decontaminating a boat which is repeatedly carried overland on a trailer between at least first and second different bodies of water during a boating season which can last up to a year, the method comprising: (a) putting the boat in a first body of water; (b) subsequent to putting the boar in the first body of water, putting the boat on the trailer, thus making a boat/trailer combination, and pulling the boat/trailer combination out of the first body of water after the boat has been in the first body of water for a period of no more than three months; (c) temporarily parking the boat/trailer combination proximate the body of water; (d) drawing water from the first body of water through an inlet conduit, and pumping such water through a pump, and directing a flow of such water, as a decontaminating spray, from a nozzle, onto an outside surface of the boat, which outside surface had been in contact with the first body of water, at such impact pressure and flow rate of the spray, as impacts the outside surface of the boat, to effectively remove an effective portion of noxious marine plant life and/or noxious marine animal life from the outside surface of the boat, without damaging the outside surface of the boat, the decontaminating of the boat comprising so decontaminating substantially all of that portion of the outside surface of the boat which had been in routine contact with the first body of water.
 27. A method as in claim 26, the parking of the boat proximate the boat decontamination system comprising parking the boat on an incline such that wash water running off such boat flows by gravity back into the body of water.
 28. A method as in claim 26, further comprising expressing the decontamination water across an open space and onto the outside surface of the boat at an expression pressure of about 65 psig to about 150 psig, at a flow rate of about 1.2 gallons per minute to about 3 gallons per minute, and at a nozzle-to-boat surface distance of about 6 inches to about 15 inches.
 29. A method as in claim 26, further comprising expressing the decontamination water across an open space and onto the outside surface of the boat at an expression pressure of about 90 psig to about 100 psig, and a flow rate of about 1.8 gallons per minute.
 30. A method as in claim 26, further comprising an inlet filter, receiving and filtering water from the body of water, and supplying such filtered water to the inlet conduit, the method further comprising placing an anchor device in the first body of water, and attaching at least one of the inlet filter and the anchor device to each other, or the inlet conduit and the anchor device to each other.
 31. A method as in claim 26, the method further comprising driving the pump using an off-grid power supply.
 32. A method as in claim 26, the method further comprising driving the pump using a rechargeable battery.
 33. A method as in claim 26, the method further comprising driving the pump using a rechargeable battery, as a primary power supply, and a recharging power supply, the recharging power supply being connected to the battery by a power line.
 34. A method as in claim 33, the method further comprising providing, as the recharging power supply, a power supply selected from the group consisting of a solar power supply, a wind power supply, and a hydro power supply.
 35. A method as in claim 33, the method further comprising providing an electrical blocking device between the battery and the recharging power supply.
 36. A method as in claim 26, the method comprising pulling the boat out of the first body of water and decontaminating the boat, after the boat has been in the first body of water for a period of no more than 1 month.
 37. A method as in claim 26, the method comprising pulling the boat out of the first body of water and decontaminating the boat, after the boat has been in the first body of water for a period of no more than 1 week.
 38. A method as in claim 26, the method comprising pulling the boat out of the first body of water, and decontaminating the boat, after the boat has been in the first body of water for a period of no more than 2 days.
 39. A method of impeding spread of noxious marine plant life and/or noxious marine animal life from a first body of water to other bodies of water, the method comprising: (a) installing, in a decontamination area of a boat launch site, in connection with a corresponding body of water which is used for boating, a boat decontamination system, the boat decontamination system being adapted and configured to draw water, to be used as decontamination water, from the body of water through an inlet conduit, to pump such water through a pump, and to direct a flow of such water onto an outside surface of the boat to be decontaminated, which outside surface of such boat had been in contact with the body of water, at such impact pressure and flow rate, as impacts the outside surface of a boat, to effectively remove noxious marine plant life and noxious marine animal life from the outside surface of the boat, without damaging the outside surface of the boat, and (b) requiring that each boat, pulled from the respective body of water at the respective boat launch site, be subjected to a decontamination process in the decontamination area, using the boat decontamination system, before leaving the boat launch site, the decontamination process comprising drawing water, to be used as decontamination water, from the body of water through an inlet conduit, and pumping such water through a pump and directing a flow of such water onto an outside surface of the boat, which outside surface had been in contact with the body of water, at such impact pressure and flow rate as impacts the outside surface of the boat, to effectively remove noxious marine plant life and noxious marine animal life from the outside surface of the boat, the decontamination process comprising so decontaminating substantially the entirety of that portion of the outside surface of the boat which had been in routine contact with the body of water.
 40. A method as in claim 39, further comprising expressing the decontamination water across an open space and onto the outside surface of the boat at an expression pressure of about 65 psig to about 150 psig, at a flow rate of about 1.2 gallons per minute to about 3 gallons per minute, and at a nozzle-to-boat surface of about 6 inches to about 15 inches.
 41. A method as in claim 39, further comprising expressing the decontamination water across an open space and onto the outside surface of the boat at an expression pressure of about 90 psig to about 100 psig, and a flow rate of about 1.8 gallons per minute.
 42. A method as in claim 39, further comprising an inlet filter, receiving and filtering water from the body of water, and supplying such filtered water to the inlet conduit, the method further comprising placing an anchor device in the first body of water, and attaching at least one of the inlet filter and the anchor device to each other, or the inlet conduit and the anchor device to each other.
 43. A method as in claim 39, the method further comprising driving the pump using a rechargeable battery, as a primary power supply, and a recharging power supply, the recharging power supply being connected to the battery by a power line.
 44. A method as in claim 43, the method further comprising providing, as the recharging power supply, a power supply selected from the group consisting of a solar power supply, a wind power supply, and a hydro power supply.
 45. A method as in claim IV5, the method further comprising providing an electrical blocking device between the battery and the recharging power supply. 